While going through my negatives recently, I discovered the photo above. Is it just me, or does it really look like this?
Anyway, it made me think of something Henry Rollins once said:
"When I was 18, I wanted to fuck on the floor and break shit. When I was 25, I wanted to fuck on the floor and break shit. When I was 35, I wanted to fuck on the floor and break shit. Now I'm 40 and I wanna fuck on the floor and break shit."
"Heavy Metal is the law that keeps us all united free / A law that shatters earth and hell / Heavy Metal can't be beaten by any dynasty / We're all wizards fightin' with our spell."
This is the best video on YouTube. Ever.
In case you don't know these lyrics or didn't recognise the Bröderna Hårdrock, you're pretty much a poser. Go and listen to Poison or Mr. Big or any of that girl crap, and let the rest of us bang our heads.
ADOLESCENTS + WHITE FLAG Shows like this are the reason why I prefer old farts a hundred times over any hawdcoah flavor of the month. I don't want to listen to any of your youth crew poo poo on colored vinyl, when I can go and see the Adolescents. There has to be a reason why everybody still knows all their lyrics by heart and sings along, and the reason is oh so very simple: they kick ass. They kick so much more ass than your run-of-the-mill kindergarten band ever will. Try to write just one song like "Amoeba" or "Kids of the Black Hole" in your lifetime, and then we'll talk again.
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS Hands down the best punk (and related) show I have seen all year, and nothing else came even close. Off With Their Heads got it all right, both on record and on stage. From the moment they hit the first notes, I couldn't help but stand there with a big idiotic grin on my face. The entire Off With Their fucking Heads discography is hit after hit after hit, and they know how to deliver the goods live. If you don't agree, you've pretty been ruining everybody's lives and eating all our steak, just like Uncle Rico.
JAZZMATAZZ I was kinda skeptical about seeing Jazzmatazz in 2008, because let's be honest - Gang Starr was one of the best hip hop acts to walk the face of the earth e-v-e-r, Guru's solo records are still pretty good, but Jazzmatazz? Ok, their first album is brilliant, but everything that came after that... well, your mom would listen to it, 'nah mean? But I bow my head in shame and take back every word, because Guru still is the coolest motherfucker. This man is so bad ass, he didn't even sweat! I'm not kidding you, he either got his sweat glands surgically removed or he is as cool as ice. (On a sidenote, the trombone player looked a bit like Fabio, but I can see past that.)
SCOOTER Ok, no matter what you say: Scooter is the shit. Just like seeing a crust punk band from Poland, you know exactly what to expect, and you get it. And just like said crust band, Scooter are fast and dumb. For fuck's sake, they even had mighty Mantas on guitars in 2007 or something! I can't remember a show in the past five years or so with an audience this happy. A laser show and half naked go-go dancers, this is the kind of shit hardcore would need more of.
DÄLEK + RIVER FOR SALE I have seen Dälek at least ten times by now, and it's pretty safe to say that they never disappoint, but never before have I seen them play a better or heavier show than this, do encores, or Oktopus go off as if he was in a moshpit. They almost played only entirely new songs off their upcoming album Gutter Tactics, and if they sound anything like the noise they created that night, it's gonna be Dälek's Reign In Blood. The band that played right before them, River For Sale, might just be the best existing Czech band right now - so much better than the overhyped and overrated Lvmen.
Honorable mentions: The Rabbit Theory Off Minor Young Livers Hanson Brothers
(And I haven't even mentioned the best show of 2008 yet... watch this space.)
DER TANTE RENATE + SAALSCHUTZ I don't know how many times I've seen Der Tante Renate so far, but this dude cracks me up every time, no matter how bad I feel. Still, I can't get over the fact that he was in Loxiran - but maybe this is scientific evidence that your music gets so much better once you start drinking. I mean, just think of Poison Idea being a straight edge band... pheeew. I have picked this show as a particular outstanding one, because it was the first time I have seen Renate play his incredible cover of Slayer's "Raining Blood". Plus, Saalschutz also performed that night, added to the fun, and things went wild. Nice bonus.
OBSTACLES One of the two times that I've seen Obstacles this year, and one of the reasons why I started to develop a love affair with this wonderful band. Miss Cowcow and me travelled to the show for the sole reason that my friend Emil would fill in on bass for them on this tour. If you know Emil, you know how incredibly awesome he is. If you don't know Emil, at least make sure to check out the wonderful record label he runs. So, well... here I am at a show in a foreign country, not knowing what to expect at all, Obstacles get on the stage, hit the first few chords, and I am hooked. In a time when brain damaged art students decide to play instrumental post rock just because an Explosions In The Sky-reference gets you laid, Obstacles is a breath of fresh air. They r-o-c-k. Watch this space for an interview, dude.
Bleubird
BLEUBIRD + AUDIO88 Oh, praise the glory of independent hip hop! And no, you idiot, I am not talking about Anticon... if this is all you know, you just have not been digging deep enough. Monsieur Bleubird has a free download EP available here, do yourself a favour and check it out. So, well... me and Mieze Medusa spent the day with these two distinguished gentlemen over coffee, and then witnessed a show later that night which left us both speechless. Audio88 dropped a lot of words that didn't even rhyme (Literature anyone? Do you still know what that is, in times of teh intOrwebz?) over beats that would have made El-P proud, and the 'bird just went crazy. And when I say "crazy", I mean ker-razy in an HR kind of way, including backflips and everything else that hurts backs and muscles. That night, a handful of people with a clue saw two of the best contemporary hip hop acts, while you were probably sitting at home and downloading G-Unit and Kool Savas tracks.
JACK TERRICLOTH This man can do no wrong. I mean it. From the criminally underrated Sticks & Stones all the way to The World/Inferno Friendship Society, Jack Terricloth is the man. He can wrestle with words in a way that's both punk and literature at the same time, he is one hell of an entertainer, and... oh, the voice! (And by the way, while you're at it, check out his book The Collected Cloth. One of the best reads in a long, long time). So, anyway - the reason I picked this show in particular over the W/IFS show a few months later was because (a) it was at a squat, (b) intimate and charming like a candlelight dinner, and (c) J.T. played "Theme Song For Nothing", which is one of my all time fave songs.
If you are looking for xmas presents, look no further. I recently published my first photo book, and it would make one hell of a gift for all your friends and enemies, lovers and haters, parents and kids.
The book is called Listen To Your Heart, because this is what it's all about at the end of the day. It's a hand-numbered limited edition (200 copies only!) spiral-bound 50 page photo book printed on high quality 300 gram paper stock, showcasing independent artists (in alphabetical order) like:
The 101, Against Me!, A Painted Mayor, Baroness, Bleubird, Brutal Knights, Burial Year, Champion, Chang Ffos, Client, Converge, Cursed, Dälek, The Deep Eynde, Die Unsichtbaren, Dimitrij, Division of Laura Lee, Dominic, Doomriders, The Feelers, GodSentUs, Hanin Elias, Hezekiah, I Walk The Line, Modern Life Is War, Mr. Lif, Nikad, Obstacles, Overmars, Paint It Black, R'N'R, Sage Francis, Song of Zarathustra, Strike Anywhere, Suma, Ted Leo, Texta, Tiger Lou, Tragedy, Transistor Transistor, Unsane, The World/Inferno Friendship Society, Worlds Between Us, Yaphet Kotto, and The Yellow Press.
Nate Newton and Jeff Caudill wrote intro texts for the book (or rather outro, because it's in the back). They create some truly amazing music and have been supportive beyond the call of duty. Thanks bros!
The book is 12 Euro from hand to hand, it's 13.25 Euro postpaid in Austria, 15.70 Euro postpaid in Europe, and 17.45 Euro postpaid in the US of A. If you like convenient online shopping, this is your best guess.
Punk Planet is no more. Boardstein has ceased to exist. Slap is no longer a print magazine. GLW/DRK, well... GLW/DRK is on holidays. Or something.
When the Slap staff decided to go all online, Lance Dawes said, "...our favorite thing was trying something new, experimenting, failing miserably and sometimes doing something cool that no one else had done yet."
Well, GLW/DRK was never about innovation or doing particularly new things, but since we haven't published a new issue in well over a year, it's about time to put on our shitkickers and kick some shit again. Blogging, oh how very modern. Stay tuned, motherfuckers.
While going through my negatives recently, I discovered the photo above. Is it just me, or does it really look like this?
